Speculation on Rep. Lee's replacement

Local political circles were atwitter with speculation and commentary Wednesday after U.S. Rep. Christopher J. Lee abruptly resigned from office Wednesday afternoon.

Lee (R-Clarence), the recently re-elected House representative for the 26th District, quit the post within hours of a celebrity gossip website posting a report suggesting the married congressman had attempted arrange a date with a woman he met on Craigslist.

Notice of his resignation went to the U.S. House and was acknowledged on the floor about 5 p.m. About 5:50 p.m., Lee’s press office issued an e-mailed statement from Lee acknowledging the scandal thus: “It has been a tremendous honor to serve the people of Western New York. I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness.

”The challenges we face in Western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately.“

Local Republican leaders, who’ve seemed to genuinely like Lee and were very enthusiastic about his recent appointment to the powerful House Ways and Means committee, admit they’re stunned — and saddened — by the rapid turn of events.

”Well, you just never know how the day’s gonna go when you get up in the morning, do you? This is crazy,“ Mayor Michael Tucker said Wednesday night. ”I thought Chris was doing a great job for this district; he was very attentive and he seemed to be garnering a lot of respect from his colleagues in Washington. I do think his leaving is a loss.“

Niagara County GOP Chairman Michael Norris said he would not comment on the Gawker report or the necessity of Lee’s resignation.
”The only thing I’m going to say is this: I respect the decision of Congressman Lee to step down immediately and I wish him and his family the best during this difficult time,“ Norris said.

By law, the 26th District seat has to be filled by special election, though it’s not clear when. It’s up to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to call the date. The chairmen of county-level political party committees within the district — Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Genesee, Livingston and Wyoming — will pick the candidates by weighted votes. The names of potential candidates, Republican and Democratic, began surfacing online and in phone conversations quickly Wednesday night; among the first mentioned in Republican circles were local Assembly member Jane Corwin (R-Clarence), who’s said to be capable of self-financing a campaign, and veteran state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane.
Maziarz, who last month ascended to the No. 3 spot in state Senate leadership, confirmed he’s giving “serious” thought to running in the special election and said he’ll be talking it over with his wife, Beverly, immediately.

Citing family considerations, Maziarz ruled out a House candidacy in 2008, when former Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds announced his retirement and left the seat up for grabs. Lee ended up the winner of a bruising, and expensive, contest with Democrat Alice Kryzan later that year.

”I’m very interested“ in a federal candidacy now, Maziarz said in a telephone interview late Wednesday. ”I’m definitely considering it.
Ninety-five percent of my senate district is in the 26th District; I know the area and I’m going to give it a good look.“ Gawker.com broke its story about Lee’s alleged misbehavior at 2:33 p.m. Wednesday. Neither Lee nor his press secretary, Matthew Harakal, would return press inquiries about that report before or after Lee resigned. A FOX News reporter hit up Lee as he was walking to his car sometime before 5 p.m. to ask about the report; Lee’s response, according to FOX: ”I have to work this out with my wife.“ Lee’s personal cell phone, which he previously encouraged reporters to call in order to quiz him on House business, was not taking messages.

Gawker claims Lee sent e-mails and a photograph of himself, shirtless and looking none too Congressman-like, to a woman he encountered on Craigslist around Jan. 14. The report included copies of the back-and-forth e-mails between Lee and the unnamed woman, who posted an ad in the “Women for Men” section of Craigslist seeking replies from “financially & emotionally secure” men who don’t “look like toads.” In the e-mails, copies of which were posted with the Gawker report, “Christopher Lee” described himself as “a very fit fun classy guy,” 39 years old, divorced and a lobbyist. Congressman Lee is 46 years old, married and has a young child at home.

Gawker also posted copies of two photos that the unnamed woman said were sent to her by Lee. One photo is a standard portrait shot of Lee the congressman; the other shows Lee wearing jeans only, no shirt, and showing off his buff physical condition.

Gawker said it got the e-mails and photos from the woman, who claimed she ceased communication with Lee after researching him online and deciding he’d lied about his age and work. Further, the report claimed, while a Lee staffer conceded the e-mail address used by the man in the back-and-forth communications did belong to Lee, the staffer also claimed Lee’s account had been “hacked,” suggesting Lee might have been the victim of a dirty trick.

Lee was elected to a second term in Congress this past November after a name-only contest with a Rochester Democrat. A retired business executive before he went to the House in 2009, the then-freshman legislator was named a “Rookie of the Year” by the Washington, D.C., newspaper Politico for his ability to successfully navigate the House political terrain.

Lee co-sponsored legislation forcing reforms in the commercial aviation industry in the wake of the Flight 3407 crash in Clarence Center. Last month he was named co-chair of the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus. Newly appointed to the Ways and Means Committee in December, he said he was looking forward to working on U.S. tax reform and measures to help manufacturing regain a foothold nationally.